“And then, I keep following him no matter where he goes. There was a point when I lost sight of him, but for some reason, he appeared back at his initial spot before he left. It’s as if he knew that he was being tailed. He’s kinda scary, but I can sense some kind of kindness from his actions. I’m sorry I can’t really explain it well, Kasumi-chan.”
“. . .”
“And then we finally talked in that alleyway. That same alleyway where you showed up, Kasumi-chan!”
Kasumi was left speechless by Luna’s story. She didn’t expect such heavy topics coming from someone younger than her. She instinctively stands up and walks towards Luna.
“Kasumi-chan?”
This left Luna confused, as she never uttered a single word the whole time.
Kasumi crouches down and hugs Luna, pulling her head into her breasts.
“Kasumi-chan?” said Luna, confused.
*pats pats*
Kasumi gave Luna gentle head pats as she kept hugging her.
“You did well, Luna-chan!”
“. . .”
Hearing Kasumi’s words, Luna hugs her back tightly.
“Thank you, Kasumi-chan.”
They hug each other in silence for a few minutes. They let go of their hugs and sit next to each other on the snow below afterwards.
“. . .”
“(Now what? After that long and serious topic, I don’t know how to continue the conversation. . .)” thinks Kasumi.
“(What is this sudden awkwardness?)” thinks Luna.
They stay silent for a few minutes since both of them are unable to start a conversation.
“Ah! How about you tell me your story this time, Kasumi-chan?”
“Ah! Y-yes! Good idea! Let me prepare myself first!”
*inhale exhale*
“So. . .”
*!!!*
*FWOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMM*
All of a sudden, the campfire in front of them bursts into a large pillar of fire, five meters in diameter.
*THUD*
Kasumi reacted properly, activated her Vein armor, and picked Luna up. She jumped away, carrying her, landing 5 meters away from the giant pillar of fire.
“W-WHAT WAS THAT, KASUMI-CHAN?” said Luna, panicking.
*!*
*Sssssshhhhhhhhhh*
Luna sees that Kasumi’s entire right arm was slightly burned and slightly smoking, and her sleeves are fully burned away, revealing her bare hand, even though she has her Vein armor activated.
“K-Kasumi-chan. . .”
“*pant pant* Are you alright, Luna-chan?”
Kasumi looks at Luna.
“Seems, you’re not burned at all! Thank God!”
“Y-Your arm, Kasumi-chan!”
Luna sees that Kasumi almost closes her left eye, showing signs of enduring some kind of pain. Kasumi looks to the front towards the giant pillar of fire.
“(What is going on here? Did some type of explosive material accidentally get swept by the wind into the fire or something? But that is unlikely! What kinda explosive exists in this snowfield when there are barely any human settlements nearby in the first place?)”
“Wow! You dodged that? You’re kinda strong, aren’t you?”
*!!*
The two of them heard someone speaking. It was a male’s voice, and they didn’t recognize this voice at all. The voice came from inside the pillar of fire.
*FWOOOOSSHHH*
The pillar of fire suddenly dispersed, and there was a man emerging from the inside of it, sweeping his right hand to the right.
“Eh? A woman? Tch! Whatever! As long as you’re strong, it shouldn’t matter! One of the Strongest Believers in the world is a woman after all!”
They saw a muscular man, not wearing any top, in this insanely cold snowfield at the South Pole.
He is 25 years old with white skin. His body is muscular but not buffed, and there are many veins visible across his body. He has spiky white hair, and most of his bangs are standing up, revealing his forehead. He has a pair of sharp black eyes. As both Kasumi and Luna described, this man is not wearing any tops. He is only wearing a pair of dark brown Japanese baggy pants that cover down to his ankles, a pair of white socks, and a pair of wooden sandals called Geta. There are many scars across his body. There is one on his upper left chest, one on his right shoulder, one on his back, and one hidden on his left thigh under his pants. All of his scars seemed to be burn marks. He is 168cm tall and weighs around 79kg, purely because of the mass of his muscles.
“HEY YOU!! WERE YOU THE ONE WHO ATTACKED US WITH THAT GIANT FLAME? HOW COULD YOU DO THAT? WHO ATTACKED SOMEONE FOR NO REASON LIKE THAT? YOU LOOKING FOR A FIGHT?” shouts Luna in anger.
“L-Luna-chan! Let’s not provoke him, alright?”
“HUH? I don’t really care about that pipsqueak! She never reacted to that pillar of flame, after all!”
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
*THUD*
The white-haired man takes a step forward, and there is so much power in his step.
“BUT YOU, DARK BLUE-HAIRED WOMAN!! YOU’RE DIFFERENT! YOU REACTED TO MY FLAME PROPERLY, AND YOU EVEN PRIORITIZED THAT PIPSQUAKE AND TOOK THE BURN IN HER STEAD!! NOT ONLY DID YOU REACT WELL, BUT YOU ALSO KNOW HOW TO PROTECT HER!! IMPRESSIVE!!! YOU MUST BE QUITE STRONG, HUH?” shouts the white-haired man excitedly and loudly.
He has a really wide smile across his face.
*FWOOOOOOMMMM*
The white-haired man lifts his right fist upwards, and it catches fire, a raging fire. The fire in his fist is reaching two meters in diameter; it looks like a miniature sun.
“(That big fireball appears and forms so quickly in his hand? Who is this guy?)”
Even though Kasumi and Luna are standing about five meters away from the man, they can feel the heat coming off his big fireball.
*SSSSHHHHH*
*!*
Kasumi looks down at the white-haired man’s feet, and the snow underneath him has thawed out in a three-meter radius, revealing the ground below. The white-haired man is in a position to throw his giant fireball at them.
“HEY, WOMAN!! LET’S FIGHT TO THE DEATH AND FIND OUT WHICH ONE OF US IS THE STRONGER ONE!!”
*BWOOOOSSHHH*
The white-haired man swings his hand down and throws his giant fireball at the two of them. The giant fireball is moving at 80km/h in the air. It leaves a trail that melts the snow below its path.
“LUNA-CHAN!!”
*BWOOOOSSHHH*
Without Luna realizing it, Kasumi has already thrown her away to the right.
*THUD THUD*
“OUCH! OUCH!”
Luna lands safely on the snow, rolling a few centimeters before finally stopping. She lands about seven meters away from Kasumi without any injury.
*BWOOOOOMMMMMMM*
*!*
“KASUMI-CHAAAAAANNNN!!!”
Luna immediately panicked and got into a plank position on the snow to look at Kasumi. She sees that the giant fireball explodes into a large pillar of fire, five meters in diameter, standing at 22 meters towards the sky.
*FWOOOOOOMMMMM*
The pillar of fire burns bright and strong for a few seconds without showing signs of dying out. But Luna was confused when she looked towards the white-haired man. He isn’t looking at his pillar of fire; rather, he has his eyes closed for some reason.
“(What is he doing?)”
“Kasumi style!”
*!!*
“SWEEPING EDGE!!”
Kasumi suddenly appears behind the white-haired man and spins herself to do a full 360-degree horizontal swing towards his back.
*!!*
But the white-haired man ducks down, narrowly dodging her fast katana swing.
“(H-HE DODGED IT?)”
*BWOOOSSHH*
Kasumi immediately jumped back away from the white-haired man and landed four meters away on the snow.
“Khu khu khu khu! HAHAHAHAHAHAH!! THAT WAS GREAT, ONE-HANDED WOMAN!! YOU SAVED THE GIRL AND MOVED AWAY FROM MY FIRE IN ONE SWIFT MOTION!! IMPRESSIVE, REALLY!!”
“Who are you, rude man? Not only did you attack us out of nowhere, but you also insulted my physical appearance! How rude can someone be!”
“Ah! Apologize! That wasn’t supposed to be an insult! I got so excited that I just say whatever pops into my head! Does ‘Dark blue-haired woman’ sound better?”
“Is that so? Then, fair enough! State your reason for attacking us and endangering Luna-chan’s life! Depending on your answer, I shall not show mercy!” said Kasumi with a serious expression.
“Nice talk! As I’ve said, I am not particularly interested in the pipsqueak!”
*BAAMM*
*FWOOOMMMM*
The white-haired man squats down and punches the ground below, and his entire body suddenly catches fire on impact. He leans his head to the front and looks at Kasumi with an excited smile.
“I only care about finding out how strong I am! I am in search of powerful opponents to further grow and become stronger! I don’t care who or what, as long as they’re strong, I WANT TO FIGHT HIM, HER, OR IT!!”
“. . .”
“Don’t you get it, dark-haired woman! I’m saying that I acknowledge your strength even though I have never met or fought you previously!”
“You can gauge my strength? Is that somehow a part of your Faith power?”
“NAAHH!! This is just my personal capability that I developed since I started challenging anyone I came across since I was a kid! Eventually, I can tell who’s strong and who’s not! And then there’s you, who falls into the category of someone who would grow and join the ranks of the Strongest of the Strongest!”
“And what does that mean?”
“You are someone who has something to protect!”
“Hee? At first, I thought you were an unreasonable, violent, and rude kinda guy! Well, you still are, but you’re a lot more than that!”
Kasumi unsheathes her katana by swinging her katana diagonally to her right really hard, and its sheath is thrown away to the snow below. The sheath of her katana disappears on the snow quickly after.
“Me personally, I don’t really care about strength other than to protect those whom I care about!”
She enters her battle stance, holding her unsheathed katana.
“But I'm still going to cut you down for endangering Luna-chan!”
“Ah, great! I was thinking of taking that pipsqueak hostage to give you a motivation! Glad I don’t have to resort to dirty tricks!”
*THUMP*
The white-haired man stomps the snow and moves his right leg forward. He moves his right fist forward and his left fist closer to his chest. He lowers his waist and moves his left leg sideways. He enters his battle stance. His fists and toes catch fire, bright burning fire. The giant pillar of fire behind him also dispersed as per his will.
“I’m a straightforward kinda guy! I’d rather us fight with all of our hearts and souls and enjoy every moment, putting our lives on the line! THAT’S WHAT GETS ME GOING!!”
*FWOOOMMMM*
*BWOOOOSSHHH*
*!*
Kasumi saw that the white-haired man suddenly flew towards her. He’s in the air slightly above her with flames coming out of his feet. He has his right fist ready, clenched really hard that the veins are becoming visible on his forearm.
*DAHK*
He swings his fist down at Kasumi’s head, but Kasumi blocks the punch with the flat side of her katana.
“Clever, BUT YOU SHOULD’VE USED THE SHARP SIDE, WOMAN!!”
*!*
*FWOOOOOMMMMMM*
A huge amount of flame is coming out of his right elbow, and it’s pushing his hand down, increasing the mass of his fist.
“HHHRRRGGGHHH!!!”
“(HEAVY!! Who is this guy? This strength is far beyond anyone I’ve faced inside that infinite maze!)”
*FWOOOOMMMM*
More flames are coming out of his elbow, increasing the mass of his punch even further.
“HHRRGGHH!!!”
“(IT’S GETTING HEAVIER AND HEAVIER!! It feels like my hands are breaking, even though I have my Vein armor on!)”
*SSRRRRTTTTT*
*BAAAAAMMM*
*BWOOOOOOOMMMM*
Kasumi shifted her katana downwards, and his fiery fist slid off its surface and hit the ground below. She herself immediately jumped to the right and landed 10 meters away.
“. . .”
The white-haired man’s fist causes the ground to crack in a three-meter radius and melt the snow in a five-meter radius.
*BWUUUNNGGG*
Kasumi throws her katana, and it spins vertically in the air towards the white-haired man’s head. He simply faces the incoming katana, raises his right fist, and a giant fist made of fire, 6 meters in diameter, appears next to him.
*BWOOOMMM*
*CTANG*
He swings his right hand, and the giant fist of fire follows his motion, punching away the incoming katana to the sky.
“Kasumi style!”
*!*
Kasumi suddenly appears behind the white-haired man. She has already resummoned her katana and lifts it above her head.
“POWER CLEAVE!!”
Kasumi swiftly swings down her katana vertically towards his back. The white-haired man quickly turns around.
*GRABS*
*!!!!*
And grabs Kasumi at her wrist with both of his hands. He turns around in time by propelling his body with his flames.
“. . .”
The white-haired man stares at Kasumi’s eyes with a stern expression.
“(He. . . He caught my hand mid-swing?)”
Luna also has her jaw dropped, witnessing the moment the man caught Kasumi’s hand. He moves so swiftly and cleanly, it looks like he’s done this several times before.
“I’ve already gotten used to fighting a swordsman/swordswoman! You’re not better than any of them! However, there is something about you that makes you different than any of them at the same time! And I am not talking about physical strength, or Faith power’s capability!”
“Quit it with the vague words! Who are you really? You’re an Elemental type, but your close combat prowess is off the charts! And I’ve only met very few of the Elemental types!”
“I appreciate the compliment! That’s right, I forgot to introduce myself!”
The white-haired man lets go of Kasumi’s hand.
*BWOOSHH*
*THUD*
He jumps back and lands five meters from Kasumi.
“I was way too excited about our fight! Apologies! Introduction should be in order!”
*FWOOOMM*
The man lifts his right fist next to his face, and it catches fire.
“My name is Vega! I am the 8th Strongest Believer in the world! People call me the Heart of the Sun!”
*!!!*
“(W-What did he say? 8th Strongest? Heart of the Sun??)” thinks Kasumi.
Vega smiles towards Kasumi confidently.
“Pleasure to meet you, dark blue-haired woman!”
